Frontline: Poor Kids

Follow three young girls in this unflinching and revealing exploration of what poverty means to children.

These are hard times in the Quad Cities, a great American crossroads along the border of Iowa and Illinois, where the Mississippi River intersects Interstate 80.

Home to John Deere manufacturing and the nation’s breadbasket, it’s also an area deeply scarred by the Great Recession. "Frontline" follows three young girls growing up amidst their families’ struggles against financial ruin. This an intimate portrait of the economic crisis as it’s rarely seen, through the eyes of children. With one in five American children living below the poverty line, “Poor Kids” is an unflinching and revealing exploration of what poverty means to children — and to the country’s future.

Image: "Frontline" spent months following three young girls, (l-r) Kaylie, Jasmin and Brittany, who are growing up amidst their families’ struggles against financial ruin.